Sweet Victory
by Jiyuu-faita
Summary: When Victoire came to live at the Gallery, life was better. When she was finally allowed outside, Victoire fell in love with Eric Finch's nephew, Aaron. Witht he pressure on Aaron to become the next King of England, he and Victoire must choose their path.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I saw the movie last night and I thought it was spectacular. I can't help but make a fanfic for the ideas that began popping up in my head. The first chapter is the shortest I assure you. I havn't read the Graphic Novel yet, so this is movie based. I will try to get my reading done though.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except what's written here, and Victoire.

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Sweet Victory

Chapter One

Victoire

Exactly one year had passed since the particular fifth of November had passed; on that particular fifth of November, V had died, leaving everything he owned to Evey Hammond. This day was not like last year, the day had been dark and dreary with a threat of rain; it had begun to drizzle around dinnertime. It was around ten o'clock when a peculiar figure began down the street. Perched on an old, blue Razor scooter was a girl with straight, and rather damp, brown hair. Without stopping or even slowing down, she lifted a white hand to brush away the strands from her hazel eyes. She appeared to be about sixteen or seventeen, and she had a knowledgeable look to her. There was something strange about the directions in which she went; she had not been in London for over ten years, but she seemed to know exactly where she was going.

Evey Hammond was lamenting V that night by watching _The Count of Monte Cristo_. She had rather taken to living in the Shadow Gallery, as she was the only one who could take care of it properly. Strangely enough, there was a knock at the door. "Funny," she said, "I thought this place was hidden." Curiously, Evey opened the door. Outside stood the aforementioned girl, backpack, Razor scooter and all. "How did you get here?" Evey inquired.

"Intuition," she replied. "I've traveled for a long time. I would like to shower and then sleep for a little while, if that's okay. I'll explain in the morning."

Evey didn't know what to make of this girl. She obviously had a connection with this place, considering she had gotten here when close to no one knew the way here, and anyone who did certainly would've called before coming. Nonetheless, it was cold outside, and the girl was shivering. "Alright, but leave your bag here, and I should hope you don't have any weapons."

"Not on my body anyway," the girl replied.

"Can I at least ask your name?"

"Victoire."

"There is a shower to the left. You can sleep on the sofa here."

Evey knew it probably wasn't a smart idea to let a stranger inside, but Victoire seemed harmless, and was it a coincidence that her name should begin with the letter V? Probably. Evey had no choice but to inspect Victoire's bag, for her own safety. Inside was a change of clothes that were considerably muddy, three American dollars, a fake ID, a piece of candy, and, perhaps the strangest objects of all, a pair of gleaming knives. Evey dropped them back in the bag when she realized what they were. "Is she crazy?" Evey asked herself.

Victoire showered and fell asleep as soon as she crashed on the sofa. Evey watched her, but she too was quite sleepy. Soon she made herself go to sleep, with the promise to herself that she would wake before Victoire. Despite the knives in her bag, Evey couldn't help but think that Victoire wasn't here to hurt her. Her arrival had been one of the strangest happening in her strange life. Victoire herself appeared to be from France; her name had that French ring to it, and her voice didn't seem to have an English accent.

Evey slept lightly that night, and she woke up several times. Her dreams were haunted by images of V, and the day he died. She didn't count them as nightmares, but they certainly weren't pleasant dreams; they kept her tossing and turning all night. There was no doubt in Evey's mind that Victoire might have woken up because of her tossing and turning, but she obviously wasn't bent on killing her that night because Evey woke up the next morning to find the Shadow Gallery as peaceful as ever.

Evey sat up in her bed, which was, as usual, surrounded by books. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stretched as people often do in the mornings. Then Evey remembered Victoire; Victoire hadn't killed her in her sleep. Evey pulled out a plain blue shirt and a pair of slacks. After getting dressed, and fluffing her hair, Evey decided it was time to go out and see if Victoire was still there.

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Yes, this chapter is the shortest, as I mentioned before. Victoire will explain herself next chapter I promise. Criticism is very much appreciated, but pleasantries and flames are always welcome. Kudos to those who know what Victoire's name means. Double Kudos to anyone who can guess as to why she is here.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello and Welcome to Chapter Two! I'm very sorry to say that I didn't get as many hits as I should've liked to have gotten, and only one of you of you did review. I'm quite disappointed in the rest of you, so thank you to my one reviewer!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except what's written her, and Victoire.

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Sweet Victory

Chapter Two

Why I Have Come

Victoire was still there, and to Evey's surprise, she was already awake. Without making a noise, Victoire was stretching herself. When Evey found her, she was standing upright with one leg stretched so high, her foot was above her head. The only noises were her deep breaths of meditation, of complete peace. Her back was to Evey; Evey did notice that her hair fell to about halfway down her back, and she was thin and under developed for her presumed age.

"Good morning," Victoire greeted Evey pleasantly without even looking at her. She let go of her foot and held her leg almost straight up without touching it. "I was just doing a little stretching before you woke up." Victoire let her leg down and turned to face her. Her bright eyes looked at Evey with a gaze that expressed both sadness and happiness. Sighing deeply, she gave Evey a little smile.

"Um… Victoire, do you want some breakfast?" asked Evey cautiously.

"Yes thank you, a little plain bread will be fine," she replied, "and I will explain the circumstances as to why I'm here."

Evey gave Victoire her plain bread, and Victoire gobbled it up like she hadn't seen food in days, which was how Evey realized, she probably hadn't. They sat in silence for a moment before Evey asked, "Victoire, what is your story? How do you know where this is?"

"I was born in a house out in the English countryside. I lived with lots of my family, but I was always told that there were more that I didn't know about yet. My older sister's name was Victoria. Strange, isn't it?"

"Why were you and your sister named so closely?"

Victoire didn't answer the question, "I have no last name so to speak. I do, but I don't remember what it is. I am sixteen and a half years old, and Victoria is two years older. When I was six years old, my family became a target. We were political activists you know. My father, my cousins, and my sister were taken. My mother, myself, and a few other family members including my late grandmother, and a few aunts, escaped. My mother and I separated from the others, and we fled to Paris, but we always had to look over our shoulders in case anyone was following us. We traveled the world trying to escape, Japan, India, Egypt, Spain, China, Mexico, everywhere imaginable. We eventually were forced back to England, where we thought we might be safe, but we weren't. I was fourteen, and my mother and I were living in a tiny flat on the east side. It was late at night, and I was reading. They came in like they had a right, like no one owned our house. They took my mother, and when I tried to fight back, they took me too. They cut my hair, and tortured me. My mother died because she had been sick for quite a while, but I lived. After she died, my captors decided that they didn't need me. I had only been a captive because I was the daughter of a living activist, and I had tried to fight back. They threw me out on the streets like a dog. Being turned out of everywhere I went was punishment enough. Then I found my grandmother; she was living in Scotland. She was dying from her old age, and she told me to find this place, and when I did, it would explain itself. That was when I was fifteen. After she died, I packed a few of my belongings and set out for London. I wandered for almost a year, and here I am."

Victoire's story was strange. Evey had to let it sink in for a moment. "Your hair, it's so long…"

"My hair grew out fast."

"But, I don't understand. Your grandmother said this place would explain itself…"

"She said that it would take thinking, but my mind would be up to it."

"Wait, do you have a connection with V.?" It was painful for Evey to talk about him now, especially to someone she had just met the day before. Victoire's eyes seemed to focus out of the memories now.

"That may have been what my old granny had been talking about. Now, to answer your question about my sister and I, many of the people in my family, our names began with the letter V. My sister was Victoria, and I became Victoire."

"That's strange."

"Lots of things are strange, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're not true."

"I'm sorry Victoire, but V. died exactly one year and one day ago. I'm afraid you're a bit too late."

"May I stay with you then, until I can find a place to live, and the means to pay the rent?"

"Of course, the friend of my friend is my friend too."

"I never met V, but I'm assuming that's what my granny sent me here for."

"Judging by how well I know you, you would've liked him."

"How do you know?"

"Because of the knives in your bag…"

"Oh, you saw those? My granny entrusted them to me when she died. They were for protection on my journey. Don't worry, I haven't killed anyone yet, just got a man in the arm for trying to rape me."

"Why did your captors let you go? Wouldn't they have assumed that you would be an activist yourself?"

"That's what I thought, but it seems that I had done nothing on record, and they believed that I had learned my lesson by pretty much watching my mother die."

They were silent as Evey thought about Victoire's experiences, and Victoire waited for another question. Evey noticed that Victoire's eyes were a startling shade of hazel that seemed dull from a few feet away, but up close they reflected as many shades and hues as there were stars in the sky. Her face was angular and her nose was thin and a little pointy. She was what would be considered an 'old-fashioned' beautiful. "Just one more question, why here? Why did your grandmother send you here?"

"As I've said, she told me that it would explain itself, and so far, it hasn't. You have any ideas?"

"Not really."

"I guess we'll wait for one then," Victoire paused, "uh, where can I sleep?"

"On the sofa I guess."

"Alright, that's cool."

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Yay for strange chapters! Victoire's been through quite a lot, right? It's a little farfetched, for now…

This one's a bit short too. They'll get longer as the story progresses. I just didn't want to put some events in the same chapter because it would've been awkward and a longer wait. I perfer lots of short chapters because I can update more often!

TNT (till next time)


	3. Chapter 3

Sweet Victory

Chapter Three

OCD

Throughout the day, Victoire was reading Shakespeare; Evey had let her borrow some of his plays to read. The day passed by uneventfully until it was dinnertime. Then Evey realized that Victoire probably couldn't cook. Victoire just happened to be so lost in ' A Midsummer's Night's Dream' that she hadn't even noticed her own hunger until Evey tapped her shoulder. It was only after she had swatted at Evey's hand that she realized where she was. "I'm so sorry, I just; I was so lost in the play, I…"

"Don't worry Victoire," Evey assured her, "I do that all the time." This wasn't necessarily true, but Evey didn't want to make Victoire worry about being put out. She could see that Victoire was in quite a mental disarray as it was. She had gone through her bag multiple times after breakfast, and she seemed to be counting her items rather than taking inventory.

"Again, I apologize."

"It's nothing. What would you like to eat? I'm afraid I'm not much of a cook, but I'm sure that I can whip up something."

"Whatever's easiest for you."

"Alright Victoire, I'm making spaghetti if you have any objection."

"Oh, my mother thought I might be allergic to pepper, but don't hassle yourself over me."

"Okay, if you want to straighten yourself up before dinner, that's okay."

Victoire nodded and walked over to her bag. "One… Two… Three… Four…" she crouched and undid the zipper. She pulled out her possessions one by one, and counted to nine as she did so. "Okay, all here…" Without making a sound she unfolded her limbs, and turned to the kitchen area. "One… Two… Three… Four… Five…" she counted as she walked over. "May I be of assistance?"

"No, I'm fine. Sit and talk to me."

"Uh… Okay," Victoire sat down and looked around, her lips barely moving.

"Are you counting?"

"Uh… Yeah… I've got OCD, so I count my steps, and everything."

"Do you like to read Victoire?"

"I love to read. As you've probably noticed, I love Shakespeare, and I love Charlotte Bronte, and Tolkein."

"Many of their books are banned here."

"Not in Spain. That's where I read them, and back home in Scotland. My Granny hid them for me."

"You can borrow some of my books. I don't mind."

"Really?"

"Really, borrow them whenever you like, just tell me first." Evey had suddenly seen it fit to share V's wonderful library with someone with a great reading interest such as Victoire; it seemed to be the right thing to do for her. Victoire herself seemed extremely intelligent, but she now seemed a bit uneasy.

"Oh thank you Ms. Hammond!"

"Please, Evey."

"Thank you, Evey."

"Alright, spaghetti's done!"

The two of them ate in near silence. Victoire looked like she might have been counting her bites. Evey almost laughed at her, but she cleverly concealed it with coughing. Victoire's bites were small, and her table manners were impeccable for someone who had been locked in an empty cell for a year of her life. Unlike normal teenagers, Victoire's back was perfectly straight, her elbows weren't on the table, and she exhibited a perfect European style of handling her silverware. Obviously, whatever family she was from, she was well off.

"That was a good meal, muy bien," Victoire said softly. "I'll wash the dishes."

"No, you're a guest."

"But I'd rather know that I'm playing my part."

"Uh… Okay…"

So Victoire did the dishes, and she did them thoroughly in a short amount of time. Evey didn't even think twice when she counted the plates and forks. Victoire washed her hands and sat back down on the sofa next to Evey, who had turned on the television and was watching the news. "They're still trying to figure it all out," she sighed.

"Figure what out?"

"Last year, what V did. He blew up the Houses of Parliament, and the authorities are still trying to figure out how it all happened the way it did."

"It was a matter of vengeance, and of something greater than ourselves."

"How do you know?"

"Intuition."

"Victoire, what do you believe, about what happened? Do agree with V or not?"

"Of course I agree. This country had something wrong with it, and it is in my best assumptions to state that V was just trying to fix it by getting enough people to oppose the government to create a change that he alone couldn't."

Those words sounded so much like what V himself would've said. Victoire was focused on the television, but her breathing was deep, as if she were doing yoga. Her brown hair was stick straight, and it looked as if she had brushed it since the night before. With a nonchalant look, and a roll of her eyes, Victoire pulled her hair out from behind her and began braiding it. "Idiots, they're still saying that V blowing up Parliament was an act of terrorism! Ha! I wonder who thought that up?" she taunted.

"So, I'm guessing you never liked the government either."

"Why would I like a group of scoundrels only interested in scheduling ever hour of ever day and banning diversity, all with the intention of furthering themselves?"

"How would you compare the governments of other countries?"

"I'll just say this; with the world being so messed up, a diplomatic anarchy is the best."

"Diplomatic Anarchy?" Evey had never heard of such a thing in her life. How can Anarchy have diplomacy at the same time?

"It's like democracy, but anyone can meet in the court. The first 200 or so people are let in to plead their case before the group of five elected at the beginning of each meeting that is held on the first of every month, and every time is in a different city to make it even. That's how it's like in Spain."

"You seem to follow the government closely."

"Of course, a government needs just a tiny bit of corruption by the right people, but too much could send the whole country hurtling into the abyss that we call revolution."

"There can be no revolution in Spain because they do not have a government that's elected; all the citizens of Spain are the government, and they wouldn't overthrow themselves."

"I guess our government must seem pretty bad to you. It's all corruption and no purity."

"Exactly."

"Victoire, I'm glad I talked to you about this."

"I always have a word for everything!"

Evey had meant what she said. Victoire's reaction and her ideas gave her powerful insight to unraveling the mystery of Victoire's strange reason for being at the Gallery. Victoire finished braiding her hair, and threw the braid over her shoulder. Her face gave Evey the image of a tiger being bothered by a tiny puppy, annoyed and inconvenienced. Maybe letting Victoire in had been a good idea.

Victoire stayed for a few weeks thereafter; she checked the paper every day for a job she could do, but few people wanted to hire a sixteen-year-old girl, even if she had extensive home schooling. Evey wasn't inconvenienced at all by Victoire staying on, in fact, she rather liked the company; she even took the liberty of giving Victoire some of her lightly used clothes, seeing as she only owned two pairs of pants and two shirts, and lingerie of course. Victoire, despite being a teenager, was quiet and didn't eat very much; Evey guessed that she was used to not eating much, but she couldn't be sure that Victoire didn't have Anorexia or something of the sort.

Victoire continued reading books from the library, and she soon had a formidable list of books including Dickens, Stevenson, Voltaire, and many others. Sometimes, if she was reading a play, she would get up from the sofa and start saying the lines to herself, as if she were rehearsing for the play. Evey made it a game of reading lines and guessing what book they were from, something Victoire rather enjoyed because she was quite good at remembering things.

The two of them began to coexist within the small space harmoniously, and Victoire became less of a guest, and more of a permanent resident. It was certainly clear by now that she was meant to have found the Gallery, and some unknown truth awaited the two of them in the near future. Each day after dinner they would try to piece together things from the past to try and explain recent events about Victoire, and November 5th.

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Yes, I know the ending kinda sucked, but it's not really meant to carry the plot, it's there a decoration (if you get my meaning).

TNT


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four has landed! FINALLY! Yeah… I apologize to all of my two reviewers. Yeah, I sent one of my reviewers a message saying that I didn't have anything written, but apparently I had up to chapter seven written, although, much of it is not usable because of the poor quality. This took about ten minutes to edit. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Sadly, I only own what's written here, and Victoire.

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Sweet Victory

Chapter Four

And Then There Were Three

It had been a month exactly since Victoire had come, and the twosome had just sat down to a dinner of spaghetti, again. Victoire had just lifted her fork when the door to the Gallery opened. Eyes wide, Victoire dropped her fork. "Whatever it is, I didn't do it!" she screeched like a banshee. Her breathes were heavy and quick, but soon she turned them back into her usual yoga-type breaths.

"Victoire, you're late," said the newcomer.

"V?" his voice had hit Evey like lightning, "How? Why? When?"

"I'm sure I can answer those questions, but shall we eat first?"

"Yeah, can we? I'm starving."

"Uh… Okay…"

Victoire ate without looking up, but whenever she took a sip of water, she would glance over at V, who was sitting across from her. No one said anything, and when all the food was gone, they just sat in silence for a minute before Victoire broke the silence, "are we going to talk about recent events or not? 'Cause I've got some Steinbeck calling for me."

"Victoire, that sounds like a good idea, let's move to the sofa," said Evey.

"I'll be sitting on floor thank you!" Victoire announced.

One the three of them were settled in the television area, Victoire piped up again, "I have two questions. Who are you, and how the hell do you know my name?"

"I suppose I should start from the beginning," said V.

"I know the beginning of the story," said Victoire in a voice just above a whisper.

"That saves me a lot of trouble."

"Just tell us how you're still alive. We'll figure the rest out soon enough," suggested Evey.

"I never died, Evey, you'll never know how badly I wanted to come back, but I couldn't. After losing so much blood, I must've lost conciousness, and when that train started, I was jostled back into consciousness. I broke a window and jumped out. Now, Victoire, you have heard of the Parliament of Freedom, correct?"

"Yes! They're an underground group of freedom fighters who try to restore diplomacy by getting their own members elected to government positions," answered Victoire directly.

"Yes, they saved me. Their group had been meeting in a remote part of the tunnels, and one of them must've found me. One of them happened to be a doctor, and he treated my wounds. I would've liked to get back sooner, but the authorities were still on the lookout. I had to wait a strategic amount of time before I could return."

"I understand now," Evey remarked, "but Mr. Finch was with me when I pulled the lever to the train."

"They don't believe him. Now, Victoire, your question, I know who you are because I knew you were coming. Your grandmother knew she would die, and she is one of the few people who had ever helped me in life, so I told her how to get here after she sent me a coded message saying that she would be sending you. I got the message through a false address that serves for the top floor of the building over us. However, you didn't get here on schedule. What kept you?"

"Trying to get from the Northernmost point in Scotland to London by Razor Scooter is not the easiest thing imaginable, especially when you have to carry your scooter on your back for five miles looking for a mechanics shop where you can get a wheel put back on!" responded Victoire.

"So, you're back. To stay?" asked Evey.

"Yes, and Victoire's staying too. A sixteen-year-old should not be wandering the streets alone, even one well trained in fighting."

"Dang it!" Victoire cursed, "do I still have to sleep on the sofa?"

"Until we can find more suitable arrangements, yes."

"It's good to have you back, V," Evey had tears in her eyes as she spoke the words, but they came out strong and sincere.

"It's good to be back."

"I'm sleepy," murmured Victoire. 

"I suppose we should move off the sofa then."

"Yeah."

Victoire slept soundly that night, but her mind was racing through the events of the past few hours of consciousness. It was all becoming clear to her now that her granny had sent her to V because of one thing: blood relation. Why else would she be sent here of all the places in the world when she had friends and others who would've been more that happy to take her in. When her mind came to that piece of the puzzle while she slept, Victoire sat up straight, eyes wide. "Eureka," she said to herself.

V and Evey had gone on talking that night about V's presumed death and sudden return. Of course, they had to speak quiet as not to wake Victoire, who Evey had discovered, was a very light sleeper. When Victoire woke up, she was the only one up, or at least, she was to only one active. She didn't' know if V slept or not, but she assumed that he had retired after she had fallen sleep that evening, and Evey was certainly asleep.

Victoire pulled out Steinbeck's 'The Grapes of Wrath' from under the sofa, where she stored her belongings neatly. She opened to page 174, where she had left off the night before. Like an old friend, the book described to her a story of life in the Dust Bowl of America during hard times. Within a matter of minutes, she was completely absorbed in the book.

Victoire would nearly finish the book before she was disturbed. The clock said it was about noontime. _How late were they up?_ She thought. Without speaking, she padded over to the kitchen and opened up a cabinet to make herself a peanut butter sandwich. While she was spreading on the peanut butter, Victoire began to hum a song to herself.

"Swan Lake isn't it?" Little did Victoire know that V had joined her.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Everyone's heard Swan Lake at some point."

"I suppose, but I thought the music was banned because the storyline suggested rebellious nature."

"Maybe outside, but not here, nothing is banned here."

"Really…"

"Victoire, let me ask you. Do you like living here? If not you could go somewhere else."

"I don't have anywhere to go."

"Well, we're happy to have you. I see we're short on some supplies, so I'll be going on a train raid tomorrow morning. Might I have the pleasure of your company on this raid."

"I would be delighted," Victoire paused, "but why me? I mean, why let me stay here?"

"Do you have any ideas?"

"Blood relation?"

"Yes. You are my niece."

"What?"

"Your father was my brother. I didn't remember that after Larkhill, but your grandmother explained in the three letters she sent."

"Now it's starting to make sense, why I'm here."

"I see it didn't take you long to figure it out."

"Victoire, are you here?" a groggy voice that Victoire took to be Evey's croaked.

"Always," Victoire answered.

"How long was I asleep?"

Victoire laughed.

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Yes, the OOCness was on purpose. Everyone's a little confused and dishelmed right now.

TNT


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